Yankees can't complete sweep over Royals after tough outing for Clay Holmes
NEW YORK – The red-hot Aaron Judge was kept inside the park on Sunday, pausing his chase for Roger Maris' club record of 61 home runs.
Salvador Perez stole the show instead.
The Royals catcher crushed a three-run home run off Clay Holmes in the ninth, lifting Kansas City to an 8-6 comeback win over the Yankees in The Bronx. It's the first home run allowed by Holmes this season and only his third blown save in 20 chances.
"A really good power hitter caught him," manager Aaron Boone said. "It's one of those that you're not going to see very often."
The Yankees (69-34) found themselves two outs from a season sweep over the Royals when one of Holmes' trademark sinkers was lifted 441 feet into the netting in Monument Park. Boone said his closer was "struggling a little bit to find his release point", while Holmes pinned his outing on a lack of sinker command.
"It's not a good feeling, especially when you blow a game in the end," said Holmes, who still takes a 1.77 ERA into August.
"It's one of those things where you trust in the teammates around you. You got to show up the next day and prepare like you have and learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Judge has captivated baseball fans with 42 home runs this year – including 12 in his last 16 games – but had to settle for two walks in a hitless series finale before 45,341 fans. The sluggers hitting around him both went deep though with DJ LeMahieu using the short porch and Anthony Rizzo reaching the second deck on a go-ahead three-run shot.
LeMahieu has now reached base in 30 of his last 31 starts, while hitting .339 (42-for-124) over that stretch.
"I think his consistency this year has been excellent," Boone said. "I feel like he's gone to another level. Just his ability to hit front of Judge has been really, really good. To see him kind of work at-bats ahead of Aaron has been fun to watch."
Jordan Montgomery was pulled after four-plus innings, allowing four runs to the light-hitting Royals. It's the second straight clunker for Montgomery, who went a season-low 2.1 innings on Tuesday against the Mets.
What looked like a bounceback start unraveled in the fifth when Montgomery walked the first two batters. The bottom of the Kansas City lineup took advantage with Nick Pratto smacking a two-run single, and Maikel Garcia chopping an RBI double down the first base line.
"You just can't walk two guys in a row," Montgomery said. "It comes to get you."
YANKEES:Aaron Judge's assault on record books sets up Yankees for sweep of Royals
Toms River native Ron Marinaccio had his scoreless inning streak snapped at 19, with Hunter Dozier taking the Yankee reliever deep to start the eighth.
In the works
General manager Brian Cashman only has two more shopping days before Tuesday's 6 p.m. trade deadline, although the Yanks are assured some help either way.
Left-hander Zack Britton is expected to face live batters for the first time next week, and his impending return from Tommy John surgery could soften the blow of losing Michael King for the year.
Meanwhile, Giancarlo Stanton (left Achilles tendonitis) will likely start baseball activities early this week. Boone came away optimistic after a brief meeting on Saturday with this year's All-Star Game MVP.
"I think he's definitely encouraged by the last few days," Boone said. "The last few days he's noticed improvement and I think have moved the needle how he would hope so. Hopefully that starts to pick up speed this week."
Joey Gallo's days in pinstripes appear to be numbered with the recent acquisition of left-handed outfielder Andrew Benintendi. USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Sunday that Gallo – who was held out of the starting lineup for the third straight game – has drawn interest from the Rays, Padres and Brewers. Gallo is currently in a 6-for-67 drought that's dropped his batting average to .159.
"I'm sure it's going to be a crazy 48 hours in the baseball world," Boone said. "But my focus is on who we have right now. We've been one of the best teams, if not the best team in the league and we'll continue to be that (no matter) whatever happens over the next 48 hours."
Sean Farrell is a high school sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.
Email: farrells@northjersey.com
Twitter: @seanfarrell92
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees can't complete sweep over Royals after Clay Holmes struggles
